With their only losses coming in the state championship game to Southern California teams, the Central Coast Barnstormers dropped their first regular season contest in two years on Saturday night, as they lost to the visiting Stockton Trojans 40-21 at the Garcia-Elder Sports Complex in Gilroy.
The Barnstormers, winners of the NCAFF and the NorCal Championship for the last two years, were dealt the rare loss in their season opener.
But while that non-state streak lasted 22 games, Central Coast is already looking to rebound next week against the California Steelers of Pittsburg.
"We're already looking to bounce back in Week 2," said safety Lance Goularte. "We're just looking to get back on track."
With Stockton leading 28-21 in the second half, the Barnstormers perhaps got off track when cornerback Kevin Stewart left the game with an injury.
Stewart had already picked off a pair of Trojan passes, and was averaging 25 yards on kick returns in the game as well. Stockton managed to finish the game with 14 unanswered points in the final seven minutes of the game.
"It's over and done with," head coach Greg Garcia said. "The next thing now is to keep moving forward. We could see them in the playoffs. If we dwell on this, it's gonna affect us next game also."
No statistics were provided by press time.
Despite being the first loss in some time for the Barnstormers, Goularte said the team was handling it pretty well.
"We played a good team. We played a tough team," he said. "We just didn't execute the way we did in practice ... We didn't have the intensity like we do in practice."
Stockton, which plays in the NCAFF's North Division, finished last season with a 9-1 overall record and posted the best offensive output in the division.
Some thought Saturday's season opener would be Central Coast's toughest game of the year. With Stockton bringing one of the North Division's staunchest defenses, Garcia, who also coordinates the offensive duties, felt his team did a great job overall.
"For the Barnstormers being 22-0 in two years, everybody is looking to beat you," Garcia said.
Central Coast will look to beat the Steelers on Saturday and even their record at .500.
The Steelers are coming off a 43-14 loss to the Salinas Spartans. Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m., in Pittsburg.
Andrew Matheson Andrew Matheson is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 334 or at amatheson@svnewspapers.com.
